It's Been So Windy in Europe That Electricity Prices Have Turned Negative (vice.com)

An anonymous reader writes: It's been very windy across Europe this week. So much so, in fact, that the high wind load on onshore and offshore wind turbines across much of the continent has helped set new wind power records. For starters, renewables generated more than half of Britain's energy demand on Wednesday -- for the first time ever. In fact, with offshore wind supplying 10 percent of the total demand, energy prices were knocked into the negative for the longest period on record. The UK is home to the world's biggest wind farm, and the largest wind turbines, so it's no surprise that this was an important factor in the country's energy mix. "Negative prices aren't frequently observed," Joel Meggelaars, who works at renewable energy trade body WindEurope, told Motherboard over the phone. "It means a high supply and low demand."

Comments

Re:subsidy

[beelsebob]

It's not about subsidy, it's about keeping the grid voltage constant.

You're paying people for the service of using up energy, and keeping the grid stable. Negative electricity prices are really a symptom of not having enough storage capacity on the grid.

useful dumpload needed

[LeadGeek]

When there is a surplus of renewable power in search of a load, perhaps plants should be brought on-line that draw in atmospheric carbon dioxide and split it into solid carbon and oxygen. The carbon could then be sequestered by burying into empty coal mines. Maybe someday we'll refill all coal mines with atmospheric (really oceanic) carbon and vow never to do that again.

My $0.02 anyway...